Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia is known for big, splashy musicals, but still has a commitment to intimate shows. Take, for instance, Tiny Dancer, by Bright Lights, Big City composer Paul Scott Goodman.

Paul Scott Goodman

The new two-actor show, with music and lyrics by Goodman, and book by Goodman and Miriam Gordon, inspired by their own relationship, begins at the Prince's Independence Foundation Black Box March 16 toward a March 17 opening.

(To allow for extra rehearsal time owing to the nature of new work, two previews March 14-15 were canceled).

"Step into the living room of an improbably funny, passionate, Scottish-Jewish composer and guitar-player," the Prince invites. "To his own surprise, he has fallen in love with an actress and writer of equal passion and wit. Sit back in big sofas and armchairs in the reconfigured setting of the Prince Music Theater's Independence Foundation Black Box and discover this new musical…a quirky and passionate tale of a musician/composer and an actress/writer struggling and juggling the competing pulls of art and survival in the big city. When she becomes pregnant with a 'tiny dancer,' he runs away from responsibility, which starts a journey towards the soul. His story. Her story. 'Wanting it all' colliding with real life — a refreshing take on love, creativity, family and destiny."

The show's rock band is led by music director Roger Butterley, playing piano and mandolin and guitar and several other instruments, and also features virtuoso drummer Charlie Patierno. Michael Unger (The Rink with Leslie Uggams, New York Stage and Film's Behind the Limelight) directs.

Goodman was raised in Glasgow where he made his stage debut at the age of five. He moved to the U.S. in the early '80s and in 1984, his Bright Lights, Big City was presented at The Guggenheim Museum and New York Theater Workshop. Other musicals include Him and Her, NY Fringe Festival 2002 Award; Rooms, NY Musical Theater Festival 2005; God Save the New Wave, Metropolitan Music and Just East of Broadway. He lives in Manhattan with his wife Miriam and their three children.

When Bright Lights, Big City played New York Theater Workshop, Goodman played a Scottish narrator who guided audiences into the story. His character did not appear in later versions.

Merideth Kaye Clark appeared in Meet Me in St. Louis for Irish Rep in Manhattan), Irrationals (American Theatre of Actors), Caligula: A Glam Rock Epic (New York Musical Theatre Festival), Rock Show (Ars Nova) and in many readings, plus regionla productions of How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Old Globe), as Olivia in Twelfth Night at Alabama Shakespeare Festival (ASF), Hello Dolly! (Starlight), Funny Money, My Way, Nunsense, Weekend Comedy (Totem Pole Playhouse). She's a graduate of Emory University and San Diego State University and holds a BS in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology, and an MFA in Musical Theatre.

Tiny Dancer plays the Prince Music Theater through April 1, Wednesday through Sunday, in the Independence Foundation Black Box Theater. Tickets are $25-$40 and are available at the Prince Music Theater box office, 1412 Chestnut Street, online at www.princemusictheater.org or at UpStages, (215) 569-9700.